The effects of inflow of agricultural biogas digestate on bivalves’ behavior

Abstract

This study focused on the reaction of bivalve molluscs to biogas digestate, which is a waste product of an increasingly developing biogas production in rural areas worldwide. The effects of biogas digestate on aquatic organisms are not fully known, and neither this substance nor any types of manure were tested in the monitoring based on valvometry, which is a biomonitoring method based on bivalve behavior. The change in bivalves functioning in biogas digestate inflow was studied using three different diluted digestate concentrations. Exposure to the highest concentration of digestate induced a decline of mean shell opening and activity time of Unio tumidus species. A significant difference in behavioral patterns was recorded during the first 10 min after exposure to the digestate. A Gradual decreasing tendency of shell opening levels was apparent under the highest concentration reaching 55% compared to the pretreatment value. Also, a decreasing tendency was observed under the medium concentration (82.4% of initial level) after 2 h, while an increase in shell opening levels was recorded in the most diluted digestate. This research work proved that the inflow of biogas digestate has significant impact on bivalves’ behavior. Unio tumidus is a sensitive indicator of biogas digestate inflow in the aquatic environment. Moreover, it proved that the opening and closing activities over time depend on the concentration of the digestate. Therefore, the mollusk bivalves might be utilized in early warning systems to detect organic pollutants in water.